November 1st, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Opinion
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Tummy Tuck surgery is almost invariably greatly appreciated by the proper patient. These top ten facts might help you figure if you are such a person. 
(1) Tummy Tuck surgery is one of the largest scale operations a plastic surgeon can offer a patient.
(2) Patients who have lost a good deal of weight or completed child bearing involving large weight gain and loss are the most common candidates. Patients do not lose much weight from the operation itself in most cases….maybe a few pounds on average.
(3) Post-operative pain used to make it necessary to admit the patient to a hospital for narcotics.
(4) Pain pumps when properly utilized can Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
August 8th, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Health Tips, Opinion
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Reader Question:
Do you do anti-aging medicine? I do not see it on your web site. If not, what is your opinion of it?
I am not a fan or follower of the anti-aging medicine fad in so much that it promotes what I believe to be a false concept. An older person cannot be made into a younger version of herself by boosting certain hormones. There is really no good evidence that it works. Patients don’t live any longer. It might also be found to be harmful in the long run.
Plastic surgeons will differ in their opinions as to what works with low risk to improve things. To me Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
August 7th, 2011 by Happy Hospitalist in Opinion, Research
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I’ve been telling my smoking patients for years that nothing I do for them is going to make an ounce of difference until they quit smoking for good. And the Italians are out to prove me right. The American Journal of Cardiology reported July 11th, 2011 on the Effect of Smoking Relapse On Outcome After Acute Coronary Syndrome.
In a study of just under 1,300 patients, Reuters reports that just over 1/2 the patients started smoking within 20 days of hospital discharge, despite in-hospital smoking cessation consultation for all patients. Researchers also found that resuming smoking increased death 3-fold compared with those that did not relapse and quitting smoking had a similar lifesaving effect as taking cholesterol and blood pressure medications. And I’m sure these folks all landed themselves back into the hospitals for a very expensive dying process.
That’s why billing the patient or their insurance for smoking cessation (CPT® 99406 and 99407) is so important. And that’s why I give many of my smoking patients my smoking lecture. You know how much Medicare pays for a ten minute consultation to help cardiac patients quit smoking right now? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
July 7th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Research
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Obesity is filling in for smoking as a cause of death in working class women, concluded researchers after reviewing mortality rates from a nearly 30-year study in Scotland.
In Europe, wealthier people either aren’t starting to smoke or are finding it easier to quit, which accounts for up to 85% of the observed differences in mortality between population groups, researchers noted.
Their analysis showed higher rates of being overweight or obese among those who’d never smoked in all occupational classes, with the highest rates in women from lower occupational classes. Almost 70% of the women in the lower occupational classes who had never smoked were overweight or obese, and severe obesity was seven times more prevalent than among smokers in higher social positions. Among women who had never smoked, lower social position was associated with higher mortality rates from cardiovascular disease but not cancer.
To investigate the relations between causes of death, social position and obesity in women who had never smoked, Scottish researchers conducted a prospective cohort study. They drew from the Renfrew and Paisley Study, a long term prospective community based cohort named for two neighboring towns in west central Scotland from which all residents then aged between 45 and 64 were invited to participate from 1972 to 1976.
Researchers reported their results online Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
June 16th, 2011 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Health Tips, Research
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I am frequently extolling the health benefits of Vitamin D because almost weekly there is a new study that correlates high vitamin D levels with reducing some disease. The latest is from the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and research shows that high doses of vitamin D supplementation improved respiratory muscle strength in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The patients that did not receive supplemental vitamin D had blood levels of 22.8 compared to 53.8 in the supplemented group. The patients who were supplemented had improved respiratory function, strength and less shortness of breath. It certainly didn’t cure or reverse COPD but the improvement was an encouraging trend in this terrible chronic disease.
In reading about this it got me thinking about COPD and the fact that it is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization and disability in the United States. It is a progressive disease that affects the alveoli (small air sacs that exchange oxygen) and small bronchioles of the lungs. These airways and air sacs lose their elastic quality and become thick and inflamed. Mucus forms and patients become progressively short of breath and eventually need supplemental oxygen just to breathe. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.
Did you know that most COPD is caused by Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
